The Husband as “Cult” Leader

Perhaps the most remarkable red pill phenomenon I’ve witnessed in my life was the radical transformation of my mother after she and my step-dad divorced.

I grew up in various Pentecostal churches. While some were into the “end times” craze, my family never gave it much attention. My step-dad was always a “just the basics” kind of guy: saved by grace, show grace to others.

My mother, too, had always been more concerned with practical matters.

But all that changed after the divorce.

My mother met this guy who was a former undercover cop. He said during his career he had went deep into the inner layers of the Free Mason society and discovered many of their disturbing secrets.

The man believed he had a calling of God to be a prophet and preach the truth in the latter times when the “shit hit the fan.”

My mom went crazy for the guy. Married him months after the divorce. No ceremony. Just a quick trip to a judge.

The guy had a knack for coming up with novel ideas about a wide variety of topics and tying them in to biblical prophecy.

Every day, it was something new. A news story. A new insight from the Scripture. A new health discovery. Something novel every day.

Her new husband was her primary source of information and relief from boredom. Whatever he reported framed her worldview.

He claimed he could understand the “deeper meaning” behind the Greek Septuagint… so she accepted his interpretations as the authoritative Word of God.

He boldy claimed that the modern church was apostate… so she stopped listening to the preachers she used to listen to.

He showed her research on how pharmacy and food companies were poisoning us… so she denounced what she learned in college and her 20 years of experience as a nurse and adapted his philosophy.

Unlike my step-dad, who encouraged my mom to pursue whatever she wished, this guy kept a fairly tight reign on her, only allowing her to go out for pre-approved activities or meet with pre-approved people.

I don’t know much about their sex life, but my younger siblings overheard them one time and said all they could hear was a lot of “thumping.”

The guy also kept my mom busy. He had various health problems so she was always preparing him special food, running errands for him, doing chores on the mini-homestead.

Just a year or so into the marriage, my mom quit her high-paying government job so she could be home full-time with him.

Keep in mind, they have no children to take care of.

Nowadays, they spend their time bunkered down on their mini-homestead preparing for (his) vision of the end times.

I found the transformation remarkable because my mother was always stubbornly independent… even from her childhood. So to witness such a complete transformation in such a short period of time was remarkable.

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Now, my point isn’t to judge the veracity of the guy’s claims. I just find it amazing that he was able to transform a woman so quickly.

It reminds me of something I read in Eric Hoffer’s True Believer, a book on the nature of mass movements:

It is a truism that many who join a rising revolutionary movement are attracted by the prospect of sudden and spectacular change in their conditions of life.

He then goes on to describe the difference between self-improvement and a mass movement:

The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.

I’ve noticed that women rarely want to improve the current version of themselves. They want sudden change that allows them to get rid of a hated self.

Thus the appeal of feminism, fad diets, mysticism, and any other thing women go for.

But after observing my mother’s recent marriage, I realized that it is possible for a man to create a “mass movement” of his own within his own household. He only needs one convert: his wife.

It’s not entirely unlike creating a cult: you must draw her away from the world, cut off distracting influences, inspire her to be completely devoted to your cause… which of course should be the same as God’s cause.

I intend to study and experiment with this further and report my findings.

For now, pay attention to your wife’s actions and words:

Does she act out of self-assurance and a desire to improve herself?

Or does she reveal a self-loathing attitude and an aversion to improvement?

If the latter, she is ripe for a radical change… either one of your own devising or one devised by another man.